SUMMARY: This is an alternate reality story inspired by the episode "The Wish". I had speculated about how the characters might have got where they were in that story, since the world was so radically different from the 'real' buffyverse. It starts approximately at the same time as the start of the show, "Welcome to the Hellmouth." It is the first part in a series I am writing chronicling this alternate reality.

I've posted this before, but I've substantially edited and broke up the chapters, so for simplicity's sake I'm simply putting it up again.

Have fun!

Pyxelle

But For the Grace of God

Part 1

Reality is a fluid entity. We shape our fate daily, choosing the path that reality will follow. Some choices are small, insignificant. They barely make a ripple in the ocean of reality. Others make more of a splash - if Albert Einstein had pursued his dream of becoming a violinist rather than a theoretical physicist, the atomic bomb may have still been in the hands of science fiction authors rather than the heads of nations. And then, there are those choices that seem small in the great scheme of things, but whose impact goes beyond simply making a splash.

Some choices can cause a tidal wave.

"I want your opinion, Buffy. This isn't just my choice. Its yours too."

Buffy Summers looked at her mom briefly, then curled her feet under her on the couch. She wiggled her toes against the couch, biting her lip and not answering right away. Her choice, too. Not much of one, in her opinion. Move to Sunnydale, whose place on the map barely occupied the head of a pin, or Cleveland, which was…. well, Cleveland.

Sunnydale - she had become accustomed to the idea that they would be moving there. In fact, most of her things were already packed. But she wasn't looking forward to it. For one thing, it was a small town - most of the kids would have grown up together, and everyone's social status would already have been engraved in stone. She would have enough problems without having to be the new girl for the rest of her high school career. Still, that wasn't the real reason she had been unhappy about the move. She had a duty, and the sweet little town of Sunnydale didn't really seem to be the best place to utilize her own unique talents.

After all, she was the Slayer.

And vamps would probably be plaguing Cleveland a lot more than some little town in sunny California.

"Buffy? You still there?"

"Huh?" Buffy snapped back to the here and now. Her mother was still looking at her expectantly. "Yeah. I just don't know. I mean, where would you rather go?"

"Well, I was looking forward to Sunnydale. We have been preparing to move there for weeks." Joyce hesitated. "But the offer work at the Cleveland Museum of Art, well…its an incredible opportunity."

"I know, Mom. It's way cool. I just wish they would have given you more notice."

"Me, too." She shrugged. "I honestly wasn't expecting them to call at all. I knew it was a long shot when I sent my resume out to all those museums last spring. When we hadn't heard anything by now, I was sure I was out of the running."

"Guess not."

"But like I said, this as much your decision as mine. We are all set to head out to Sunnydale. I won't change that plan if you hate the idea of Cleveland."

Her mom really had no idea of the quandary that she had put Buffy in. Despite her qualms about abandoning her duty as Slayer, a small part of her had rejoiced at the chance to have a normal life again. To go out to dances, have pig-out fests with her girlfriends and make-out fests with her boyfriends. It was easy to feel righteous when she had no choice but Sunnydale, because she could fool herself into thinking that it was fate that had pulled her from her duties. But now that she had a choice, the siren song of a normal life was hard to ignore. The small part which had whispered before was shouting at her now.

But which path to take…take her destiny in her hands, or run from it and live the glorious life of a normal teenager?

She made her decision.

Rupert Giles put the last book on the shelf, and stepped back to admire his handiwork. It had taken a long time to set up the new section in the library, especially because the kids at Sunnydale High seemed to avoid the library like the plague - which meant a severe shortage of helpers. He managed anyways, and now the bookshelves with the mild label of "Mythology" were organized and catalogued. He was thorough. There was enough information here that he felt confident that his new charge would not lack for knowledge.

He heard the doors of the library open, that soft whoosh that he had already attuned his ears to hear. He started toward the checkout desk, glancing back once proudly at his collection.

"Hello? Hello-o!" A boys voice called out.

"Yes." Giles stepped out from behind the desk. Two students stood there, one a shy looking girl with long auburn hair and the other a rather gangly young man in a plaid shirt. "I am Mr. Giles, the new librarian. Can I help you?"

The girl stepped forward. "Um, yes please. I need to pick up a book - for my advanced physics class. I just got bumped up from the regular class."

"Yes, of course." Giles stepped over to the piles of textbooks he had organized earlier in the week. "Which book?"

"Theories and Applications of Physics."

He located the book in short order. There were very few of them, as the class was very small, but the pile was no shorter than the others due to the extreme size of the text. He hefted it onto the table. "If I could just have your name, please?"

"Willow Rosenberg." Her eyes were wide at the sight of the monstrous textbook. "That whole thing is for one class?"

"Geez, Will. You could bench press that thing." Her friend picked up the book and pretended to be pulled down by the weight of it. "I've got a set of wheeled luggage if you need a way to get this to class."

"Xander, give me my book." Willow made a swipe for the text and pulled it out his hands. It was really heavy - her falter at its weight wasn't faked. She frowned as she shoved it into her backpack. "I might have to take you up on that luggage offer. It really does weigh a ton."

"Anything for you?" Giles queried, directing his question at the boy.

"Nope. I'm all set." He held up a small stack of books, the top one being a thin volume that proclaimed "Woodwork Today - A Guide for the Beginner." He grinned, an open smile that Giles liked. "Not all of us are trying to cram the entire Encyclopedia Britannica into our heads."

The phone in his office began to ring. Giles started towards the door, smiling slightly at the students. "It was nice to meet you. "

"Yeah, you too. " The red-haired Willow agreed as he walked out the door.

He stepped in and picked up the phone. "Hello, Sunnydale High Library."

"Mr. Giles. This is Lewis Donovan."

Giles froze. Donovan was important in the council of Watchers. His calling so soon, before the Slayer even arrived, was not a good sign. "Yes? "

"Circumstances have changed. We are having to alter our plans. Rather radically, I'm afraid."

"All right…what kind of alterations are we talking about?"

"Alterations in the matter of the Slayer. She is no longer coming to Sunnydale."

He sat down hard, stunned. He had moved here, taken a job in this tiny library, and now she wasn't coming? "What happened?"

"Her mother took another job, outside of California."

He had already come across an ocean for this duty, and supposed a few states wouldn't make much of a difference. "All right…this is unexpected, but I can leave as soon as I get my resignation in-"

"That won't be necessary. She needs guidance now. A replacement has already been sent."

Replacement. He wasn't sure he had heard that right. "Replacement?"

"I know that this is all happening very quick, and I am sorry. But it was necessary."

Giles was sure this was Donovan's doing. He had been dead set against Giles taking charge of Buffy Summers, and hadn't bothered to hide his disappointment when he had been outvoted.

"I -"

"You can come back if you want, but it might be a good idea to wait a few months. Get a little settled. Do some research. We can hold down the fort here for you."

He was being dismissed. He knew it, and he knew that Donovan knew it. He wanted this conversation to end. "Very well. "

"Good bye, Rupert."

Giles put the phone gently on its cradle. Then he slammed his fist into the surface of the desk, the sound of his flesh slapping the wood loud in the empty library.

"Bloody hell."

"Willow - hey, Will. Will!" Xander Harris tried to get his best friends attention without letting the spoon he was balancing slip from his nose. He continued proudly. "Two minutes and counting."

"That's great, Xander." Willow said absently. She didn't seem to really hear him, though she wasn't paying too much attention to the band, either. The Bronze was crowded tonight, being Friday, but Willow seemed very lost in her own world. Xander decided to forgo trying for the world record of spoon-on-the-nose.

"What's up, Willow? You seem awfully distracted."

"Oh. Sorry. I'm just a little worried about Jesse. He should have been here by now."

Their friend Jesse was two hours late, but since he wasn't all that reliable - at least punctually - Xander didn't see the need to worry yet. "Don't worry, Will. He'll be along. He's probably just out trying to see if Cordelia decided to join the Great Land 'o the Geeks and," he gasped theatrically, " go out with him."

"Yeah." Willow shook her head a bit ruefully. "Somehow I don't think her royal highness is going to abdicate her throne, though."

"Her Royal Highness" happened to walk by at just that moment. She looked gorgeous, as always, her lustrous dark hair perfectly arranged, her face as perfect as a porcelain doll, and her body...well, of course, Xander couldn't help but notice that. But unlike his friend Jesse, he was able to get past it and see Cordelia Chase as she really was - a caustic, conceited witch.

At least, in his opinion.

"Hey. I know what will cheer you up." Xander picked up his glass and banged it on the table like a gavel. " I hereby call an impromptu meeting of the 'We Hate Cordelia Club.'"

Willow couldn't help but grin. "All members assembled."

"The agenda, Madame Secretary?"

"A healthy dose of Cordy-bashing. Beginning with the Top Ten list."

They didn't even get to the first item on the list, however. The person who was responsible for the formation of the WHCC stopped at their table, her troupe close behind her as usual. "Xander. Willow. Aren't you the cute couple. The perpetually dateless and hopelessly fashion impaired all over the world must look at you two and feel hope."

Despite himself, he felt the girl's insults cut. "You'd better check outside, Cordelia. Your little black cat might be getting lonely out by the broomstick."

"Oh. Ouch." Cordelia laughed, a sign to the Cordettes behind her to laugh as well. "That wit must be why Jesse ditched you two tonight. I know that I couldn't stand the thrill of it every day."

"He didn't ditch us." Willow piped up loyally. "He's just not here yet."

"Oh, yeah? Then who is that leaving right now?"

Xander frowned and scanned the crowd. True enough, Jesse was just stepping out the door, an attractive blonde on his arm. A "way to go Jesse!" almost passed his lips, but his annoyance with the fact that Cordelia had a point stopped it. "Hey! Jesse!"

Jesse didn't move from his course, and disappeared out the door. Xander rolled his eyes. "Willow, the air's gotten rancid in here." He said with a pointed look towards Cordelia, whose Chanel No. 5 perfume always seemed to hover around her in an almost visible haze. "Lets go after Jesse, see what's up."

Willow stood and walked out the door with Xander to the sound of titters behind them. Once outside, she turned to the dark haired boy and rose her eyebrows. "We're not really going to go after Jesse, right? I mean, he did leave with a girl and all…"

"Nah." Xander was still a little annoyed, but shrugged it off. Jesse didn't often get dates - pretty much a big never there, actually. "I think -"

Jesse's voice cut him off, near but not talking to him. "Darla…Darla, wait up." His voice sounded funny, detached. He stumbled past them, not even ten feet away but not seeing them. A blond woman was running in front of him, slowly, just fast enough that she was always just in front of him. Jesse was clutching his neck as if in pain. He pulled it away and paused briefly, supporting himself on a light pole. "Darla."

Xander's frown deepened. Something was wrong here, though he couldn't tell what.

Willow noticed a bit more than he did. "Xander." She said. "Did you see his neck?"

"No…"

"I did. When he grabbed the light pole." Her voice was trembling. "I think he was bleeding."

"Do you think that girl hurt him?" His voice didn't sound much better than hers.

"I don't know…I don't think that he would follow her if she hurt him or something, do you?"

"No, probably not…maybe they got mugged." Xander suddenly felt a great deal edgier. If they had been mugged, there was a good chance that the perpetrator was still around. He grabbed Willow's arm, pulling her along for a few paces. "Hey! Jesse! Hang on a minute!"

The girl and Jesse were running faster than before, and Jesse either didn't hear him or was ignoring him, because he didn't even slow down. The girl, however, glanced back once, and her and Xander's eyes locked for one moment. Willow gasped beside him, but he didn't really register it. That one moment lasted an eternity.

Her face was contorted, the forehead ridging unnaturally and her feral yellow eyes piercing his. Through her lips her teeth gleamed, sharp and prominent, and she hissed at him. Xander stumbled backwards at the sight, dragging Willow with him, his hold on her tightening to a death grip. Willow gave a scream that had no strength behind it, sounding quiet even to his ears.

Then they rounded the corner and were gone.

Xander and Willow stood there for a moment, shocked into a dull silence. Willow was the first to break it.

"Oh. Oh. Oh."

Releasing her arm, he turned to her. He winced at the indents where his fingers had left marks in her flesh. "Willow. Will. Are you ok?"

"Oh. Oh." She took a deep breath and turned and hugged him tightly. He held her, grateful for the contact. "Oh, Xander. What was that? What is going on?"

"I don't know, Willow." He tried to keep his voice steady and failed. "I don't know."

She pulled away, looking at him worriedly. "Xander, that…that thing has Jesse."

He didn't want to think about that, but his conscience won out over his fear. "I'm going to go after him."

"Xander, no. Its not safe." Willow was becoming frantic.

"I have to, Will. He's my friend." He took her by the shoulders. "Go home. Lock the door. I'll call you as soon as I get home."

"No…no, I am going to come with you." Her words were brave, but her tone was anything but certain.

"Please, Willow. Just go home and…and be careful."

She opened her mouth as if to argue, then closed it. "O..okay." She stammered. "But promise me that you'll be safe."

"I promise." Why did he feel like he was lying?

"Should I call the police? When I get home?"

Xander's first instinct was to tell her yes, but on second thought he shook his head. "What are you going to tell them? That our friend just ran off with…with…something really ugly and with really sharp teeth?" He shook his head, starting off in the direction that Jesse had went before he lost his nerve. "Go home, Willow. I'll call you soon."

Leaving Willow behind, Xander increased his speed as he ran around the corner. What the hell am I doing? He thought, even as his shoes pounded against the pavement. How am I going to even get Jesse away from that…thing? Playing hero might get him killed, but he couldn't stop himself. Jesse needed his help, that at least he was sure of.

He skidded to a stop. Faintly he could hear Jesse's voice calling again for "Darla."

They were in the cemetery.

Following the voice of his friend, Xander moved more cautiously now, crouching behind tombstones and dashing from one cover to the next. He was getting closer, gaining because Jesse seemed to be slowing down. "Want to try something wild?" A woman's voice - Darla - asked coyly, "In the Mausoleum. I'll be waiting."

This was his chance. He waited maybe five seconds, then sprinted in able to catch up with Jesse. He caught his friend's arm a few yards from the door of the Mausoleum. "Jesse." He tried to keep his voice low, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be heard by the creature within the stone walls. "Jesse, we have to get out of here."

His forward momentum stopped, Jesse seemed to lose the strength to keep going. "Xander?" he asked, his eyes glazed as he fell to the ground. The wound on his throat was obvious now, deep puncture wounds that still bled freely. It almost looked like a -

Vampire bite.

A vampire bite?

There were no…such…things…

His mind reeled, his reality shattering around him. A vampire. Vampires were real. Vampires were in Sunnydale. The world he had grown up in - the safe, quiet world where the only demons to be found were the ones that a psychiatrist could help and vampires were the things that Anne Rice made up fictions about - that world was not real, it was a mirage, an illusion, and right now it had fallen apart in an instant.

These thoughts, his shock, lasted only a moment before fear motivated him to move.

It was a moment too late.

"Oh, look." The vampire Jesse had called Darla stepped out of the crypt. "Jesse brought a friend." The kick to his chest seemed to come out of nowhere, and he flew into a gravestone not far from where they were standing, knocking the breath out of him. Darla sauntered up to him. "Or were you trying to play hero, little boy?" She leaned over him, her lips upturned in a little playful smile. "Fun. I can give the Master two presents tonight…or maybe you'd rather stay with me. " The smile widened. "Yes. I think I might keep you for myself. I could use a new …pet."

His breath returning, he tried to take advantage of her closeness and push her away from him. Maybe if he could just get her far enough away to give him a running start, he could get away.

She caught his hand before he even touched her. "Tsk tsk tsk, loverboy. This isn't the way to start off a healthy relationship." She kissed his hand, ever so gently, and he had to fight the revulsion that he felt at that face caressing his hand. She locked eyes with him, the feral yellow of hers meeting his brown. "You have to be kind. Giving. " She bit him suddenly, at the tip of his index finger, drawing blood. Her tongue licked the wound, her eyes never leaving his. "Especially giving." Her face went thoughtful. "I like you." She had a sultry voice, even when her appearance was like this. "You taste…pure. Innocent."

"Are you done playing, Darla?" Another vampire stepped out of the crypt, and Xander felt what little hope he had die. The was the slimmest of chances - the very slimmest - that he would be able to escape from Darla, but he would never get away from the two of them. "The Master's waiting."

"Yes." Darla motioned her head towards Jesse. "Take him down with you. I have to help my new," she paused, her eyes roaming up and down Xander's body. "Friend."

Her fist connected with the side of his head. There was a blinding pain, and the sound of an amused chuckle.

Then blackness.

End of Part One

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